Category Archives: national news

The front page of the Washington Post’s website on September 27, 2012 shows a bias towards a more liberal demographic. Some of the headlines such as: “Medicare issue boosts Obama in 3 swing states,” “At Romney’s would-be church in D.C., ‘47 percent’ fill pews,” and “Republicans’ real problem” show this bias. Instead of choosing more stories that are more favorable to the Republican candidate, the Post chose stories that do not put Governor Romney in the best light. Some keywords and phrases that give this bias away in these articles about Governor Romney are: “sweeping changes,” “undercutting,” “blunts,” “controversial,” and “unfavorable.” “Sweeping changes” is not something that the elderly, or even those who are middle aged ever want to hear about Medicare. “Undercutting,” or cutting away at the base, is a negative word placed where a more positive word could have been used. This is the same for “blunts” and “controversial.” All three of these words create a mental picture for the reader that is not a positive one. The keywords and phrases used to describe Governor Romney contrast with those about President Obama: “favorable,” “advantage,” “boosts,” and “support.” These word choices create a positive mental image for readers. “Boosts” and “advantage” also hint at words that have to do with a positive economy, which every American no matter what party is in favor of. In the picture included in the “Campaign Finance Explorer” on the front page of the Post, President Obama’s numbers are shown and Governor Romney’s are cut off. This is a small point yet it is more favoritism towards the President and the Liberal demographic. It is a shame that there are not more articles about President Obama’s campaign struggles as well as more articles describing Governor Romney’s positive attributes and successes. This would allow the public who reads the Washington Post to be better educated about both candidates for the upcoming election.

The movement that has been occupying public space since September 17th is still continuing today. The Occupy Wall Street movement has grown to just about every city across America, and even some cities abroad. With the financial situations both in America and Europe – people are starting to Occupy their cities to show that the rest of the citizens want a voice in democracy.

Many images show what is not being discussed, often high lighting the violence and disruption that this movement has caused. However, news articles discuss how yet another day has passed that protestors are still there, and oh yea there may have been some tiffs with police and people breaking the laws. However, what the public generally sees are people with their signs arguing how unfortunate their life has been because of the 1% policy makers. Yet, many of the younger generations have refuated with facts such as an image like this:

The original objectives of the OWS movement is to create a democratic process for addressing the problem of the power of Wall St. over our government and wealth inequality. At this point, the movement has grown and taken on many issues. The overall theme is that OWS wants true democracy where the 99% make decisions, not the 1% of the population that controls all of our wealth.

What does OWS want to see change?

We want to a return to real democracy. We doing this by organizing direct democracy in our own communities right now.

Although this movement doesn’t seem to have any real goals behind their occupying phase, participants are still avidly partaking in protests across the Nation (and world) to show their dis-gratitude towards the 1% of Policy makers.

To further my research, I’ve been collecting materials from Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and general articles and images found on google or via the SBC library site. I’ve also emailed professors, and messaged people via Facebook to get an average person’s oppinion of the OWS movement, especially focusing on the younger college generation as they are the next to enter the work force and contribute towards the economy.

When I started emailing people – many of whom I had gone to school with, but since lost contact, many were happy to reply with their view on the situation, and gladly offered their two cents. In peer conversation, I have also gotten a sense that the OWS movement has turned into something that is more of a joke, now with http://www.oows.org/. And yes, Michale Moore has joined the OWS bandwagon – viewers may see another film soon … and even South Park has mocked the OWS movement.

What was a movement for people to gather in hopes of radically changing policy makers minds, has now become a movement where the average American is confused with what the OWS demands are, and frequently mocks the situation.

So, this next round of articles must be about a national or international issue, but written in such a way that it appeals to a local audience. This is called finding the “local angle” for the story.

As we’ve discussed at length in class, the average reader is weary from being bombarded by so much information, so the journalist and news organizations have to find ways of reaching them and making the news seem relevant.

Here are a few examples of recent news articles that take a local angle on a national or international issue.

You will notice that in each of these stories there is a connection between the local and national. The writer’s job in such stories is to foreground the connection between the national story and the local. This is done through a lede that specifically mentions place right away. In the first, a story from the Chicago Tribune, the writer mentions Lake Bluff, IL, a Chicago suburb. In the second, students celebrate the national Banned Book Week on the campus of the University of Notre Dame (IN), and, in the third, the national news comes to Lynchburg, with a presidential candidate speaking at Liberty University.

The articles then quote the local participants (or those affected), and in some cases, bring in experts that help to put the meaning of the event into perspective. Be mindful that not all readers will understand the significance of the national/international event or issue, so you will have to provide that, usually in the nut graf.

If you’re stuck on what to write about, consider what kinds of national/international events might affect Sweet Briar Students, or events that might be made more relevant by getting the opinion of Sweet Briar students and professors, especially those who study the issues raised by the news. Here’s a list I came up with:

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Management at San Francisco-based Salon Media has agreed to start talks on a first union contract with its workers, it was disclosed Saturday. “Salon Media has agreed to recognize the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) as the collective bargaining representative of its editorial staff, whose decision to unionize was unanimous,” the union said in […]

New York Review of Books Richard Bernstein continued his beef with the New York Times’ nail salon exposé and says the editor’s response was late and insufficient. Bernstein’s article, published on the New York Review of Books website on Friday, came in response to the letter issued by New York Times editors earlier this week. […]

American Journalism Review will cease operation after almost 38 years of publication. The announcement was made on the publication’s website Friday evening. The news comes exactly two years after it ceased the production of its print edition. The magazine was published by Phillip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland. “Over many decades, […]

Happy Friday! Here’s some weekend reading (if you just can’t get enough of journalism, writing or the media,) gathered from good stuff published on Medium this week and last. Thanks to Katie Hawkins-Gaar and Vidisha Priyanka for helping to curate. ‘Twelve Step Program’ for Becoming An Investigative Reporter Brock Meeks delivers on the promise of […]

Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler speaks during an NFL football training camp media availability at Olivet Nazarene University, Wednesday, July 29, 2015, in Bourbonnais, Ill. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh) Tom Brady destroyed his cell phone. Now the Chicago Bears apparently would like beat reporters to self-destruct or otherwise disappear. The team has released new coverage […]